Marlborough's Next Head of School

The Marlborough Board of Trustees and the Head of School Search Committee are delighted to announce the appointment of Jennifer Ciccarelli as Marlborough’s next Head of School. Ms. Ciccarelli will join the Marlborough community in the summer of 2022, succeeding Dr. Priscilla Sands upon her retirement. 

As we embarked upon this important search process last fall, the Search Committee solicited and received valuable input from the Marlborough community in identifying the key characteristics and capabilities we would seek in our next Head of School. We sought a leader and educator dedicated to excellence in education with a focus on girls’ learning, a demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion, impactful organizational leadership and management skills, and a belief in the power and importance of collaboration, community dialogue, and intellectual inquiry. 

We were overjoyed to discover all these qualities and more in Jennifer Ciccarelli. Jennifer comes to Marlborough from the Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio where she has been the Head of School since 2014. Prior to taking that position, she was the Assistant Director/Acting Director at The Winsor School, a highly regarded grade 5-12 girls’ school in Boston. Jennifer was also previously the Academic Dean of The Girls’ Middle School in the San Francisco Bay area and spent the first 10 years of her career as a lower and middle school teacher at Greenwich Academy, another highly regarded girls’ school in the New York Metropolitan area. She earned a B.A. from Wheaton College, an M.A.T. in Elementary Education from Manhattanville College, and an M.Ed. in Education Leadership as a Klingenstein Fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University. Illustrating her distinguished leadership across four girls’ schools, Jennifer’s references spoke of her student-centric approach, her authentic allyship, her passion for educating and empowering young women, and her ability to articulate her vision, tackle tough topics, and build relationships.  

Throughout our search, we were tremendously fortunate to benefit from the active engagement of Marlborough faculty, staff, students, parents, and alumnae. What began with over 200 potential prospects narrowed to a strong slate of seven highly-qualified candidates with a diverse range of skills, experience, and identities. From there, the Search Committee interviewed each first-round candidate for 90 minutes, followed by two-hour hybrid virtual/in-person interviews with the second-round selections. Finally, three finalists were invited to campus for in-person meetings with Trustees and with members of the Senior Leadership Team, Student Council leadership, Alumnae and Young Alumnae Council Leadership, Parents’ Association Executive Committee members and Dr. Priscilla Sands. This thorough and robust process allowed the committee to attract and evaluate the best academic leadership talent.  

Ms. Ciccarelli’s appointment will be effective July 1, 2022, and over the next year we will have opportunities—both in-person and virtual—to meet and get to know her and her family. We look forward to welcoming Jennifer, her husband Chad, and their daughter Perry to the Marlborough community. We will also come together in celebration of and gratitude for Dr. Priscilla Sands’ extensive contributions to Marlborough over her seven-year tenure and look forward to being together in community to do so. 

Until then, we thank you for your support and engagement throughout this process. Our community’s love for Marlborough and its students was palpable and allowed us to attract and secure the right leader for the next chapter of our wonderful school.